North Korea regularly criticizes Seoul and just last week renewed its promise to wage a “sacred war,” saying South Korean PresidentLee Myung-bak had insulted the North’s April 15 celebrations of the birth centennial of national founder Kim Il Sung.

But Monday’s military statement, which vowed actions of “unprecedented peculiar means,” was unusual in promising something soon and describing a specific length of time.

The threat follows U.N. condemnation of North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket that exploded shortly after liftoff April 13. Washington, Seoul and others called the launch a cover for testing long-range missile technology. Pyongyang said the launch was meant to put a satellite into orbit.

The North’s special actions “will reduce all the rat-like groups and the bases for provocations to ashes in three or four minutes, (or) in much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style,” according to the statement by the special operation action group of the Korean People’s Army’s Supreme Command.

Clearly, Pyongyang is looking to distract its subjects from the military failure earlier this month. However, this threat goes beyond their normal bluster, as the AP notes above. Threats from the DPRK usually use more general terminology, and especially timeframes, as the Kim regimes attempt to force some concessions from their opponents in the rational world.

In this case, I’d guess that the issue is starvation. Lee Myung-bak cut off food aid from the South in 2008 that didn’t get tied to concessions from Pyongyang, and now the latest missile test has ended the food shipments from the US as well. The military needs that food aid to keep the rank and file from rebelling, let alone the unfortunate people of the DPRK. Kim can’t afford to let the army starve, and he can’t domestically produce the food necessary to keep it from happening. He needs that food aid to resume in order to keep his new position as hereditary dictator.

If the DPRK seriously tries terrorist attacks in Seoul, however, starvation will be the least of their concerns. This could become a shooting war again, and it will take a mighty careful balance to keep it from expanding to China, Japan, and Russia all over again. Right now it looks like bluster, especially since Pyongyang hasn’t moved any troops to the border after their announcement, but the threat of terrorist attacks won’t be taken lightly by Seoul or the US.

The ‘shooting war’ would last all of about 10 minutes, IF Barry had the balls.

As for China and Russia; they’ve got nothing to gain and would stand on the sidelines. Hell, China would be rushing troops to their common border just to keep starving NK’s OUT. Japan has enough problems right now, and would defer to OUR defending them against any attacks.

The thing that worries me about the NORKS is the whole Kamikaze phenomenon in that part of the world. If Kim sees that it’s going to be all over in a couple of years… why not just burn that part of the world down? Sure, NK wouldn’t win a war…. but if they slaughtered a few million people on the way out and erased North Korea from the map–why the heck not? From the mindset of the evil madmen bit… if your country is toast, take out everyone else too.

Just read the book “Escape from Camp 14” about the only person known to have escaped and survived from a North Korean “no exit” political prison. Excellent book and highly recommended, but it also left me with no illusions about the sanity of the NoKo dictatorship.

The North’s special actions “will reduce all the rat-like groups and the bases for provocations to ashes in three or four minutes, (or) in much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style,” according to the statement by the special operation action group of the Korean People’s Army’s Supreme Command.

Given the awesome precision of North Korea’s missile arsenal, the residents of Seoul must be weally, weally, WEALLY worried. /sarc

“Unprecedented peculiar means.” Translation…All citizens of North Korea will report to the 38th parallel at midnight, April 26th. All citizens of North Korea, assuming the wind is with us, will drop skivvies and flatulate on command. As the noxious cloud crosses the border, Glorious Leader will light his Zippo lighter and the South Korean people will be eliminated. Done and done.

One wonders if the person who is responsible for the statement had something like “Man, I am totally full of crap right now,” go through their head as they gave this to the NorK version of the state-controlled media.

Wow! When they put it THAT way, it just makes you WANT them to do it! It only takes 3 or 4 minutes…have they invented instant gulag in a box? Have they trained their population to be cannibals and will release them to eat the South? Fascinating!

If the DPRK seriously tries terrorist attacks in Seoul, however, starvation will be the least of their concerns. This could become a shooting war again, and it will take a mighty careful balance to keep it from expanding to China, Japan, and Russia all over again.

If the history of that conflict has made anything clear, it’s that the DPRK literally can get away with murder. Why was US food aid even on the table after they attacked that South Korean ship? Every time they “act out”, everyone issues the obligatory condemnation along with the requisite carrot. They know this, and they know there will be no real consequences for their actions, which is why they continue to perpetuate this cycle.

Just read the book “Escape from Camp 14″ about the only person known to have escaped and survived from a North Korean “no exit” political prison. Excellent book and highly recommended, but it also left me with no illusions about the sanity of the NoKo dictatorship.

SoRight on April 23, 2012 at 2:12 PM

I just download “Escape from Camp 14” but I haven’t read it yet. You may also be interested in this one too.

Just read the book “Escape from Camp 14″ about the only person known to have escaped and survived from a North Korean “no exit” political prison. Excellent book and highly recommended, but it also left me with no illusions about the sanity of the NoKo dictatorship.

SoRight on April 23, 2012 at 2:12 PM

Just read it too. Frightening and depressing. What is clear though is that once Kim realizes that the end is near he will slaughter the 200,000 or so Koreans being held in the labor camps and try to eliminate all evidence of the camps which the N. Koreans claim don’t exist.

“unprecedented peculiar means,” that, “will reduce all the rat-like groups and the bases for provocations to ashes in three or four minutes….”

That sounds awfully specific to me. I’d say they are threatening to use some weapon of mass destruction. On the other hand, it could be as low-tech as having a couple of dozen “tourists” set fire to their hotel rooms simultaneously. (The Confederacy tried that against New York during the Civil War.)

Dude, this threat is real. It involves 4 million NK hookers incapacitating the entire SK defense structure in four minutes or less. Eric Cartman tested it himself and he was incapacitated in 2 minutes.

North Korea’s missiles may not work, but their artillery works just fine. It’s been dug in over the decades, and would devastate Seoul before anybody could take it out. A shooting war may be in our future, I don’t know, but don’t kid yourself that South Korea would necessarily emerge unscathed.

Well, the North Korean official website is pretty snazzy and they even have a website for neat stuff like “Propoganda No. 7 iPad Covers,” I kid you not, complete with a “Where’s My Stuff?” customer service link. (Not sure what happens if you actually click on it to complain; you might wake up in a North Korean concentration camp).

If North Korea is seriously contemplating an attack on Seoul, this might be a good time to stock up on your Propoganda Coffee Mugs and T-Shirts… :)

in much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style,”

I think that was from my instruction manual of the last vacuum cleaner my wife bought.

“You house will be clean in a much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style”….”for further value of this product procure name of vendor and ask for relief”…was how it ended.

A great idea popped into my head from your post…
PETA is killing about 80% of all the dogs they rescue…so they can help their friends, the commies, by sending (airdropping would do) all of those dogs into Korea. They don’t have to kill dogs, and they continue being the humanitarian that they claim to be by feeding a country.

The fact that the Korean Conflict ended in a ceasefire and not a treaty of any sort means that the forces there are all on “tripwire.” The military does NOT have to wait for instructions or permission to respond – they go – period – if attacked. Obooboo could stop them, but – by the time they reach him on the links, it will be all over. Another picture in the kiddie chair from the Situation Room.

A great idea popped into my head from your post…
PETA is killing about 80% of all the dogs they rescue…so they can help their friends, the commies, by sending (airdropping would do) all of those dogs into Korea. They don’t have to kill dogs, and they continue being the humanitarian that they claim to be by feeding a country.

I have a book that was given to me that is like one of those tourist books you can buy in countries. It features buildings and monuments that are named to honor both “Great Leader” and “Dear Leader”. Some of the buildings are HUGE. But the pictures show no one in them or even near them. They are right in the middle of places like Pyongyang but there is no one on the streets. Weird pictures.

Those people live in a horrible existence. NK is a monument to the failure of socialism, Marxism and communism . . . all rolled together.

We’re not anymore. But S. Korea, the US, and China have been providing food aid ostensibly as a humanitarian gesture; however, the real reason is that neither China nor S. Korea would be able to handle the waves of starving refugees pouring across the borders from N. Korea if the dam broke. So it’s kind of an insurance policy.

China and Russia have serious demographic and economic issues. The last thing they want right now is a war with the US, especially over the deadweight that North Korea has become.

I hope the US sticks to its guns and keeps withholding food shipments. It was only going to their military anyway, not to the starving masses. It’s the only way that whole rotten cult of Kim can be brought down.

Oh he does fine. It’s the 25 million or so ordinary North Koreans who are starving. North Korean teenage boys are typically 6 inches shorter and 30 lbs lighter than their South Korean counterparts, yet they’re genetically identical. Malnutrition is also causing massive mental retardation of the N. Korean population. When the dam breaks and the Kim regime fails we are going to be shocked at what comes out about how the N. Koreans have ben oppressed and abused for the last 60 years.

They’ve certainly achieved a level of totalitarianism that would seem impossible in this day and age. That said, I was actually encouraged in the book by the degree to which people had been able to move back and forth to China. I understand that the Kim’s only allow it because of famine, but it does mean that there are many times more North Koreans who’ve witnessed first hand what at least a sliver of economic freedom looks like. You don’t “un-see” those things once you return. Hopefully seeds are being sown.

When we decide to get serious about the PRK, we can deal with the problem rather quickly. But it involves being completely realistic and ruthless in pursuing our interests.

First it must be recognized that ONLY China has the power to force the Norks to do anything. The Chinese are the major and almost only trading partner and source for hard currency. If they decide to crack down on the nonsense, it stops. Cold. They don’t because they enjoy the distraction it provides for us, Japan, and ROK. They have no motivation to call off their dog.

BUT if we announced serious talks with ROK and Japan about basing our nukes there and helping them with their own programs, the Chinese would sit up and take notice right away. And if the price of stopping that deployment was toppling the Kim regime, it would be done.

Kim “Kid Cream Puff” Young-un cannot possibly be in control there. Western news sources should not acknowledge him and should refuse to publish any news about the Norks until they open up. But the AP and Reuters et al seem to enjoy acting as relay stations for such lunacy. It’s for the Left, you know.

When North Korea says, “unprecedented peculiar means,” it sounds like they’re going to have their people run to one side of the island so all the South Koreans are tipped into the ocean. The North Koreans hired Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA as a consultant.